Excavation and Survey of Early Medieval Sites in Lycia

我们继续挖掘土耳其西南部Gemiler岛上的教堂III的工作，该工作始于1995年。在前几个季节，带有一个十字架的后殿，bema（避难所）和祭坛已经被挖掘出来。除此之外，今年的挖掘工作还揭示了教堂中殿和过道的一部分的原始建筑，其中包括一个templon（圣坛屏幕）和一个solea（神职人员通道）。这些都是研究建筑史和艺术史的重要材料。中殿和过道的地板上装饰着几何图案和花卉装饰的马赛克。镶嵌的小块包括各种石头和玻璃。对马赛克的研究有助于确定教堂建筑的年代。在教堂的中殿和过道上，我们发现了6座坟墓，它们是在教堂被毁后的世纪建造的。对挖掘区域地层的分析表明，第三教堂建于6世纪，7世纪中期在阿拉伯人对该地区的广泛攻击中被烧毁。墓葬的新发现告诉我们，当拜占庭帝国收复这一地区时，这座被毁的教堂在拜占庭中期被改建为墓地。我们绘制了平面图，立面图，建筑和墓葬的截面图，以及挖掘区域的地层截面图。所有的发现都被编目，然后保存在费蒂耶博物馆，遵守土耳其共和国的法律。

We continued the excavation workof Church III on Gemiler Island, Southwest Turkey, which started in 1995.In the previous seasons the apse with a synthronon, the bema (sanctuary) and the altar have already excavated. In addition to them the excavation work this year revealed the original construction of a part of the nave and the aisle of the church, which include a templon (chancel screen) and a solea (passageway for clerics). These are all important material for the Study not only of the history of architecture but also of the 1iturgy.The floors of the nave and aisle are decorated with mosaics of geometric patterns and floral ornaments. Tesserae of the mosaics include various kinds of stones and glass. The study of the mosaic helps the dating of the church building.In the nave and the aisle we discovered 6 tombs, which were made in the l2th century, after the church was destroyed. The analysis of the strata of the excavated area shows that Church III was built in the 6th century and burnt down in the mid-7th century during the extensive attack of Arabs in this region. The new discovery of the tombs tells that the ruinous church was converted into a graveyard in the middle Byzantine period when the Byzantine Empire recovered this district.We drew plans, elevations, sections of the building and tombs, and the section of the strata of the excavated area. Finds were all catalogd and then stored in the Fethiye Museum, observing the law of the Republic of Turkey.